E3 2009: Fallout 3: Point Lookout Hands-on

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A not so sleepy beachfront community awaits.

By Jeff Haynes

Alaska. Pittsburgh. Adams Air Force Base. Through the three expansion packs released for Bethesda's award winning Fallout 3, players have explored vastly different experiences of the nuclear wastelands for the ex-Vault 101 dweller. But the adventure through the irradiated lands hasn't ended yet, particularly with the recent announcement of two new expansion packs that will be coming later this year. The first of these will be Point Lookout, an expansion that will house a ton of secrets for players to uncover. At E3, I managed to get some hands-on time with one mission to face off against new enemies and acquire new powerful equipment, as well as new perks and achievements.

Point Lookout takes you to an as yet unexplored area of Maryland that didn't suffer the same kind of devastation that DC went through when the bombs fell. In fact, it appears to be a rather quaint beachfront community that has fallen into disrepair. Like the previous expansion packs, you wind up discovering access to Point Lookout after receiving a radio transmission. Once you travel to the source of the transmission, you are introduced to Tobar the Ferryman. He pilots the Duchess Gambit, a boat that takes you away from the wasteland to the area of Point Lookout. While you won't be able to take any followers along with you, Point Lookout will have the distinction of allowing you to come and go as you please instead of locking you into that location for the duration of the expansion pack. Mysteriously, a new fruit is found on the Lookout, which somehow lowers the Rads that you take much better than Rad-X and Radaway. However, as you approach the splintered timbers of the dock, the derelict Ferris wheel and the looming spire of the lighthouse, you can't help but get a sense that something is radically wrong here.

In fact, that's something that Bethesda is specifically going for, attempting to create an H.P. Lovecraft vibe with the entire pack. Point Lookout is stepped in thick fog, with a number of new effects for the environment, including new water, sky and tree textures to make Point Lookout look a bit more off kilter. Even stranger, however, are the "monsters" that you'll face. The newest ones are the Hillfolk, mutated people that seem completely ripped from "The Hills Have Eyes." There were a number of these creatures that silently attacked us with different implements, such as shovels, axes and even double barreled shotguns. As rustic and simplistic as these weapons might seem, you shouldn't discount them on looks alone. These items are extremely powerful, particularly if you repair these items into better condition.

After battling through these creatures, I made my way towards a place on the hill known as the Old Calvert Mansion, which Tobar stated had some great treasure inside of it. However, as I opened the door, I noticed a ghoul named Desmond being attacked by large groups of people known as Tribals. In fact, what I discovered is that these people were in a cult, and were constantly assaulting Desmond in an attempt to gain some secret that he held within the crumbling walls of this mansion. These assaults were relentless, and groups of Tribals would break down walls, shoot through doors and constantly fling themselves at him. Fortunately, Desmond had a number of defenses, like turrets and barricades, and was systematically repelling these enemies. Choosing to help Desmond, I found myself battling through these waves, but also found myself falling through demolished floorboards and getting trapped in the bowels of the mansion.

It was rather evident, thanks to the large numbers of waves that I was constantly facing, that Point Lookout would not be an area that weaker characters will want to take on. In fact, Bethesda believes that this would be an expansion for higher level characters, and while they wouldn't tell me about all of the secrets or monsters, the large numbers of Tribals in the area, along with their swarming nature, made it seem as though they would easily overwhelm characters without a significant amount of armor and ammunition. Point Lookout will be released later this year.